Machine for wide rinsing a fabric



June 5, 1962 c. REZZONICO 3,037,370

MACHINE FOR WIDE RINSING A FABRIC Filed Aug. 12, 1960 IN VEN TOR CARLO fifzza/v/ca Arrow/w United States Patent Office 3,037,370 Patented June 5, 1962 3,037,370 MACHINE FOR WIDE RINSING A FABRIC Carlo Rezzonico, Saronno, Italy, assignor to Cornerio Ercole S.p.A., Busto Arsizio, Italy Filed Aug. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 49,369 Claims priority, application Italy Aug. 20, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 68-458) The present invention relates to a machine for wide rinsing a fabric by disposing it in small pleats after brushing thereof. Said machine exhibits several advantages when compared with the known machines. It prevents for instance the floating of the fabric on the water and the heaping of the same in critical positions, whereby these inconveniences would determine the irregular outlet and the jamming up of said fabric.

The machine of the invention is suitable to complete advantageously the conventional wide washing plants but it may naturally be applied as well to any other washing plants for printed or dyed fabrics.

It is characterized by a container suited to receive the rinsing liquid and to contain movable therein an axle provided with flexible paddles hinged in an intermediate point thereof and disposed in such an angular relationship to each other as to allow piling up of a certain number of pleats between one paddle and the next one, the gradual conveyance of said pleats from the inlet to the outlet opening as well as a light agitation of the fabric, whereby a holding-up device for the paddles is disposed before the inlet opening of the fabric to widen said inlet opening for the pleats thus contributing to the formation thereof.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood a preferred nonrestricting embodiment of the machine will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein the known parts of the plant are drawn with thin lines while the machine forming the real object of the invention is indicated by thicker lines.

FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross-section of the present invention,

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross-section of a conventional washing, brushing and squeezing apparatus which is a continuation of FIG. 1 taken along the lines X-Y thereof, and

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the paddles with parts in section.

The fabric 1 coming from a conventional wide washing machine 2 passes through a conventional brushing unit 3 and from here to the machine 4 forming the true object of the invention.

At the outlet from the machine 4, the fabric passes through the conventional squeezing cylinders 5 and comes out in 6 perfectly washed brushed, rinsed and squeezed.

'Ihe rinsing machine of the invention comprises the container 4, the lower portion of which is semicylindrical and contains the rinsing liquid, which may be warm or cold, as desired, as well as the axle 7 slowly driven by a motor 11'. The axle 7 is provided with flexible paddles 8 disposed in such an angular relationship to each other as to allow piling up of a certain number of fabric pleats 1 in the free space 9 defined between one paddle and the next. During the rotation of the axle 7 in the direction indicated by the arrow 10 the pleats '1' undergo a light stretching or extension and a positive agitation producing the rinsing action. This is mainly due to the fact that the paddles are elastic and their form gradually changes during the rotation of the axle as clearly shown in the figure. To this end the paddles 8 are made of elastic material preferably obtained by superposing several layers of rubber or similar material in such a manner that they exhibit a larger thickness in their position 8' of attachment to the axle 7. They may also be formed by a pref-i erably rigid portion 8 connected at 11 to a flexible portion 8".

A holding-up device 12 is disposed above the paddles and consists of a rigid surf-ace urging the upper end of the paddles to bend down during the rotation of the axle until said end assumes again the original form after having passed over the holding-up device; the object of this device placed before the inlet opening for the fabric is to widen the said inlet opening 9, thus favouring the formation of the pleats 1'.

The operation of the machine is evident: after the fabric has been brushed by the rotating brushes 3 it proceeds to the rinsing operation elfected during a whole revolution of the axle. The flexible paddles open up and close the pleats, to keep them confined within the spaces 9 between the paddles and hence to leave said pleats free at the outlet. The fabric pleats being kept confined within the free spaces between the paddles, it is obvious that the fabric is prevented from floating, from heaping up in the lower end of the container or in other undesirable positions, as well as from getting jammed. Said fabric is furthermore kept under constant agitation.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for rinsing a fabric, the combination with a tank having substantially vertical sides and a lower portion which is semi-cylindrical, of an axle mounted substantially at the axis of said tank, means connected to said axle for rotating said axle, a plurality of radial flexible paddles mounted on said axle at substantially equidistant angular relationship therebetween defining a free space between one paddle and the next, said paddles being of sufficient length in the radial direction to contact the substantially vertical sides and semi-cylindrical lower portion of said tank when said paddles are being rotated to pile-up pleats of said fabric in said free space, and a holding-up device mounted above said paddles to holdup each paddle as it passes thereacross to form a wide inlet opening between said paddles to receive said fabric in said free space to pile-up pleats therein.

2. In an apparatus according to claim 1 in which said paddles consist of several layers of superimposed flexible material, said layers of material having a greater thickness at their connection points with said axle than at their points of contact with the substantially vertical sides and semi-cylindrical lower portion of said tank.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 1 in which said paddles consist of a rigid portion having one end connected to said axle and a flexible portion connected to the other end thereof, said flexible portion contacting the substantially vertical sides and semi-cylindrical lower portion of said tank.

4. In an apparatus according to claim 1 in which said holding-up device consists of a rigid surface which contacts the flexible portions of said paddles as they are being rotated by said axle, said flexible portions being deflected by said rigid surface as they pass therealong until they pass completely thereacross whereupon said flexible portions assume their original form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,246,993 Payet Nov. 20, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,902 Great Britain 1907 933,922 Germany Oct. 6, 1955 

